Years After
by TheLegendaryHotPotato
Summary: "Years after Spartoi, generations after Lord Death, and centuries after the last Death Scythe, the DWMA is running smoothly with its new headmaster, perhaps better than ever." A self-insert story, but its not saying how 'me and my friends saved the world'. They're chapters seeing how the DWMA is running 'Years After,' fitting in some of me and my friends training in the SE verse.


_She read the slip quickly, her words combining and mixing together: "'A D-class group mission, requiring three weapon-meister pairs at the very least. Also a requirement- a blade-type weapon and a fire element-'Guys! This is perfect!"_

_I raised an eyebrow, shifting my weight to one side, acknowledging Alex, the second weapon in my weapon-meister trio. She was visibly displeased, motioning forward to protest. "But the hardest mission we have ever done was a C-class," She said, crossing her arms. "And those were pretty hard." _

_Libby waved her off with a large smile, raising the paper to eye-level once again. "But look-" She brandished the request out to us. "The payment is $350 _each_!"_

* * *

TO BE HONEST, IT WAS ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING. The shop was simply terrifying, the grinning moon peeking behind some willowy curtains and layering an eerie glow on everything that met its translucent white rays. Every step we took caused a thick plume of dust to go flying up, with a loud, grating creak. The floors themselves were made up of rotting oak planks, sticky with a dull scarlet substance, while wallpaper hung from the walls in delicate coils, the peeling, grey paper uncovering the fungi and termite ridden surface. Grime clung to every nook and cranny, the originally bright and cheery place discolored and dull, cast in shadows and despair. The only spared space was on the counter, in dirty glass jars preserving surprisingly shiny, brand-new lollipops, mints, and sugar cubes. With a scowling shudder and a shake of the head, my friend muttered what I was thinking- despite we just walked in a minute ago: "This place is unbearable."

Looking deeper in the store- shelves upon _shelves _of old-fashioned wooden toys, light growing scarcer the deeper you go- I spotted a brown bear coated in splotches of a moist, dark red substance. Its eyes were seemingly ripped out, then stitched on messily, with poor seams and stuffing spilling out from its stomach. _Oh my death, that is messed-up, _I mused silently, my eyebrows furrowing. I turned, hoping to escape the terrifying sight, only to be greeted by more horror story smiles. Silky hair and porcelain skin stared at me with wide-eyes from inside their cardboard box, the grins of the dolls appearing to echo a laugh at my obvious discomfort. It almost seemed like their eyes grew even larger and their giggles became more twisted with every breath I took, making me gag. A coppery stench filled my lungs unpleasantly, making me light-headed and dizzy. Black spots danced in my vision, and my grip on sanity weakened, my knees buckling as my heart rate got faster and my breathing more labored. Something connected harshly with the back of my head as I flinched, bringing me back to reality. "Idiot!"

My meister's scowling face appeared in front of me as I blinked. I blew some black hair out of my face dumbly, eyes widening as my disoriented vision came back in focus. "_We have to stay together for this group mission!_" Libby hissed, staring me straight in the eye as I stepped back from the front of the aisle.

I was silent, squinting around and just now noticing the dark ripple of magic spreading around the store in waves, the focus of the energy starting right where I was just standing. Unfortunately, my meister mistook my quiet overlook as ignorance, looking even angrier as she opened her mouth to speak again. "You-!"

"We're at the end of the store." I screeched, shocked. "What?" Libby paused, looking at me.

"I'm the idiot?" I retorted, starting to shake. "We're in the shadows and the others don't know we left!

Then it appeared at the corner of my eye- I barely noticed it. But, grotesque and sickening as it was, I stared in horrified fascination, my mouth dry and my mind blank. It was as pale as every other doll in here, except it was more sickly than pretty. Its glassy eyes were coated with a layer of dirt, and even worse, it didn't seem to care, its eyes staring, unblinking. Long black lashes cast long, spidery shadows across its inhumanly rosy cheeks, its thin, tall body draped across a counter. Cracks wove in complex patterns across its arms, leading to thin fingers coated in blood. But the kishin itself didn't scare me- not at all. The fact that it was only visible for a second scared me, its lanky silhouette flickering away after I blinked, just once.

Letting my instincts take over, I grabbed Libby's sleeve to pull her back, thin air slamming into the wall behind her and scattering debris everywhere. The glint of marionette strings shone from the impacted area, a barely visible string imbedded in the wall. Sharp splinters dug themselves into my left side, and almost instantly, pain spread through my arm like wildfire as my arm dove into a display, twisting harshly. My ribs and back burned from the aggressive fall, and I was sure at least one bone had broken. But I ignored that, allowing my body to be enveloped in white-blue light as I jumped to my meister's side as a black rifle.

Fortunately, I had taken the blunt of the attack, the blond girl being lucky enough to crash into the floor and not a metal table, looking to have only twisted her ankle slightly. However, she received shrapnel to the skin, just like I have, and she may develop major bruising from that crash. Concern immediately washed over me when my friend wouldn't move, but after a moment she grabbed the stock of my weapon form, stumbling up. My reflection flashed on my polished cherrywood frame, eyebrows furrowed. "Watch out for marionette string," I warned. "The kishin's like a _doll, _puppet- thing- whatever. Just know that it's creepy."

"Got it. " She said, resting the butt of her rifle against her shoulder and taking a shot at a twisted black outline. Glowing blue bullets- her soul wavelength- crashed into the wall and blew up wood and dust. When the smoke cleared, the kishin was gone. "Did I mention it's fast?" I muttered unnecessarily, squinting at the destruction.

Ignoring me, Libby jumped on a display in time to dodge another attack, launching out from it with one leg as _that_ exploded, too. She landed on the floor clumsily, recovering into a summersault and tumbling behind a stack of jack-in-the-boxes, turning around to fire at more shadows. She sprinted out after hearing a dull 'thud', and I was able to catch a glimpse at a glowing red orb and smaller creatures scattering from the blow. I groaned, slapping my hand to my face. "There's more than _one. _It's one of _those _kishins_."_

Libby growled, flash-stepping behind a sign. "_What?"_ She said angrily, her voice clipped.

I shrugged, though I must admit I was frustrated also. "It's multiple kishins that combine into a larger form." I said, allowing a small degree of annoyance to creep into my tone.

Libby swore, popping out and shooting at more dolls before taking off again. Marionette strings still shot at us as she ran, but they dealt damage on a smaller scale, which was much better than before. Nevertheless, they caught at Libby's sleeves and grazed her skin, causing cuts as my meister skid across surfaces as she dodged and fired. She spotted the mouth of the aisle, moving to the side as a string zoomed toward her face. She shrieked as a puppet- wooden with painted features- grabbed at her side and grinned up at her with an artificial joy. She batted it away with the barrel of her gun- which was _me, _mind you, who screamed as the kishin held onto the muzzle of my form. Libby pointed the gun down to the floor, shooting the monster into the floor. "_Yes_!" I screeched in triumph, watching the small figure dissipate into black dust, leaving behind a bobbing soul.

Leaping over the small crater she had made, she avoided another attack, skidding across the floorboards by her heels. They squeaked loudly as she threw me aside. I was about to hit the floor as I turned into a human once again, landing on my feet before they gave out and I hit the floor. I scrunched up my nose, coughing from the dust and rubbing my scraped knees. Mason, a meister, was the only one who got the hint that something was wrong, her face contorted into one of worry.

"Oh, hey- what's up with you guys?" Alex greeted us, confused as Libby's battered form appeared in front of them.

"Isn't this place creepy?" Katherine continued to insult the place, not noticing our dramatic entrance.

"No, this place is absolutely _gorgeous." _I said hoarsely, my tone heavy with sarcasm as I struggled to get up.

My irritated face, frustrated with the fact that they didn't get the message and the task of getting up, was soon switched with one of pained surprise, a silvery strand cutting past my leg and leaving an three-inch-long gash.

* * *

**A/N: **Okay, it doesn't all make sense right now, but please hold tight until I get to explain it all. Remember- this is thousands of years into the future,_ generations_ have passed.


End file.
